History

Denim – everyone’s favourite. We love it and we live in it: jeans, shirts, jackets, skirts… the list goes on. Having been in use since the 15th century this fabric is still very much in demand; modern-yet-classic, fashionable-yet-casual, plain or faded in different patterns we simply can’t get enough of it.

I used to be a denim junkie. Before my now famous KonMarie session my wardrobe held over 30 pairs of jeans alone. Crazy, I know… but not to worry as most of them didn’t give me joy anymore they were donated to charity and I am sure someone else somewhere is making very good use of them right now. Anyways, winter is over and spring is upon us, which can mean only one thing – wardrobe change! All this rummaging about in my clothing kind of put me in the mood to find something interesting out about my beloved denim, so here you have it… 9 facts I didn’t know about. I hope you will also find them interesting.

Denim was invented in the 1500s in Genoa, Italy to be worn by the sailors in that city’s navy; it took over 300 years for it to become popular and worn by masses.

In the earlier years, denim was associated with hard working labourers like miners, farmers or railroad workers who needed a durable, long-lasting yet comfortable clothing.

Cowboys = denim. Picture a cowboy. What is he wearing? Cowboy boots, well-worn blue jeans, denim shirt and a hat… am I right?

Blue jeans became popular outside of the United States, thanks to American Soldiers in World War II who wore jeans when they were off-duty.

Every American on average owns 7 pairs of wearable denim clothing? Seems like a lot but just look into your wardrobe, you might really be surprised.

About 2.5 billion yards of denim is produced every year all around the world. Over 50% of denim is produced in Asia alone, specifically in China, India, and Bangladesh.

Most of the denim fabric is washed in water after colouring in order to prevent the shrinkage.

One bale of cotton can be used to produce 225 pairs of denim jeans.

It takes 1800 gallons of water to grow enough cotton to make one pair of jeans… ooops! That’s a lot of water!

Are you a denim lover? Could you survive without your favourite pair of jeans?